The Connections North 2026 professional (war)gaming conference will be held at the National Capital Region Officers’ Mess, Ottawa on 14 March 2026. The theme this year will be (War)gaming Canadian Security in an Era of Strategic Uncertainty.
For those interested in attending or finding out more, check out PAXsims and the Connections North page
I received a call for papers from Helen Marshall, who presented at Connections Oz a couple of years ago. While the deadline has passed, the email suggested late submissions may be considered. At the very least, the publication may well be of interest to this group.
Take a look at the web site https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/25735152/homepage/call-for-papers/creative-futures
Futures & Foresight Science invites submissions for a special issue examining creative methodologies as sophisticated tools for futures thinking and strategic planning. This issue positions imagination-based approaches not as inspiration supplements but as rigorous methodological frameworks essential for anticipating unprecedented change.
For those interested in visiting Canada…
The CONNECTIONS NORTH professional wargaming conference will be held on Saturday, 15 February 2025 at CFB Kingston (Canada). The registration page is now open at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/connections-north-2025-tickets-1097630796259 CONNECTIONS NORTH is an annual conference devoted to conflict simulation, wargaming, and other serious games. It is intended for national security professionals, policymakers, researchers, educators, game designers, university students, and others interested in the use of serious games for analysis, planning, education, and training. Conference panels will address three major themes: professional military education, wargaming force development, and wargaming urban warfare. There will also be time for networking and other activities (including game demonstrations). The detailed conference programme will be available in January.
Connections North is part of the global network of Connections professional wargaming conferences in the US, UK, Netherlands, Australia, and elsewhere. Along with many others, we are cosponsors of the Derby House Principles on diversity and inclusion in professional wargaming.
Space may be more limited this year, so register early to secure a spot. Early registration is cheaper too!
Best regards,
Rex Brynen
Ben Taylor
Wendi Winter
Thanks again to the presenters this year and to everyone who attended.
The videos have been uploaded to the archive and can be seen here.
Comments and feedback would be welcome.
I just wanted to put in a plug for the ADF Wargame Association. They have a gaming event coming up 2-3 Dec in Canberra.
Details here https://www.adfwga.com/
Hi, after some last minute issues, I can announce Connections Oz is scheduled for 8-9 Nov.
This year, we return to an online format as this is both more accessible to our interstate (and international) colleagues and allows us to bring the date forward into November to avoid end of year holidays and postings etc. We will schedule a couple of sessions in the mornings and the evenings so we can have a few international speakers.
Please see the registration page for tickets. Registration is mandatory as only registered attendees will be sent the links to the sessions.
Please circulate the details to any of your colleagues you think may be interested.
If you would like to present something, or would like to request we try to cover a specific topic, please use the Connections Oz email found on this page.
In the absence of a specific topic or theme, I am quite interested to explore people’s experience of designing wargames and what they learn about the topic from that research and design process. But, as usual, we welcome presentations and discussions on almost any wargame related topic.
The program will be updated as details are confirmed.
Connections Oz 